Fabulous Flapjacks...

Daisy came home from school today having made these....

Delicious flapjacks

Don't they look yummy? They tasted as good as they looked. Delicious and crisp, not at all heavy or stodgy. I think I like cookery after school club.

Tried my new loaf pan for bread. Not sure about the result, I think I left it to rise too long as the crumb was a bit more open textured than I usually make. Needs a little tweaking I think.

More baking...

I thought I would have a go at making brioche. I mean, how hard can it be? Well, actually, quite hard. Despite my best attempts at following the Guardians recipe, my first loaf didn't turn out at all buttery and light. Hmmm. Second attempt I thought I would go for safety in numbers and make lots of mini brioche. This was a much better idea as the empty plates I came down to this morning testified. My three little angels gobbled them all up with no complaints at all. I can only think that the cooking temperature in my ancient Aga is not conducive to making a decent brioche loaf. Too much heat, too quickly. Will have to tweak the recipe and try again.

The post this morning brought a present from my wonderful friend, Tracy. It is a new home present and very apt as I have been making all our bread recently.

Pampered Chef Stoneware loaf pan

I'm really pleased with this as the metal one I have been using has been leaving traces of itself on all my bread. No such problems with this little beauty. I have lots of different stoneware and I definitely prefer it to  metal bakeware. It came with a recipe for Apple & Cinnamon Cake and so I duly christened it. Yum Yum. The cake was delicious and didn't stick to the loaf pan at all. I will try it in the morning to bake some bread and see how it turns out.

Baking day...

Three cheers for a good old fashioned baking day. Lots of freshly baked goodies and a home that smells delicious. I can feel the calories piling on just looking at the pictures!

Daisy kneading bread dough

The finished result! Yummy...

Buttermilk scones....

Cherry shortbread hearts...delicious

Sew and sew...

Spent a lovely couple of hours in Just Sew in Penrith today. The wonderful Pat gave a small group of us (3!) some great personal tuition in getting to know our sewing machines better. I can't believe how much I managed to learn in such a short time and will definitely be heading back to do some more one day courses. On leaving the shop I was tempted to buy all sorts of beautiful fabric (they have an amazing collection of stock) but I held of. I need to do some more practicing first before I let myself loose on new fabric! I did buy some more needles though so that I am actually able to practice!

Forgot to report back on the lemon & lime marmalade...it was very nice but needs a little less lime and a little more sugar....was inspired to make some grapefruit marmalade (think I've been bitten by the marmalade bug!) and it was.......also very nice. Am thinking about making some jam now as I saw an interesting recipe for rhubarb and ginger jam...mmm..sounds delicious but I think I will wait until the price of rhubarb goes down....currently £5.35 kg...

Tullie House Museum

The children and I spent a wonderful day in Carlisle last Saturday. We decided to give the castle a miss as it was not the weather for an open air adventure! Instead, we visited the wonderful Tullie House Museum. The children had so much fun! There was so much interactive involvement that they would have happily stayed another hour on top of the two we had already spent.

The small garden is beautiful and if the weather had been milder, would have been an ideal place to sit with a cup of tea and a cake.....maybe we will go back in the summer just to try.... The actual house part of the museum had the most incredible tiled staircase. It really is very beautiful and is a testimony to the wonderfully creative Victorians at Ironbridge, Shropshire.

The museum also houses a small collection of William Morris samples. The colours and designs are so beautiful, I found myself wondering about the new curtains I need for the downstairs room.....

A new month....

February has arrived with its promise of spring. The temperature is a little milder of late and there are lots of patches of blue in the sky.....the wind, however, is threatening to tell another story. Still, I've managed to spend time in the garden today, having a general tidy up and planting some bulbs that I had forgotten that I'd bought. They had started sprouting in the net they were in so I think they will be ok. I always feel so much happier when I've managed to spend time in the garden....is this the onset of middle age in the year I turn 40?

Actually, today has been quite a productive day so far. I've managed to bake some bread, and spurned on by the success of making some delicious seville orange marmalade, I made a fresh batch of lemon & lime marmalade. First tasting session tomorrow morning.....

I went to Birmingham a couple of weekend ago which felt like rather a strange experience. Despite originally being a city girl born and bred, I felt quite out of my depth......Soooo many people!  I stayed at the Jury's Inn which looked a bit like a concrete monster on the outside but actually was really rather nice inside.

To be fair, I did take this photo around 7am in the morning so it was only just starting to get light. It does make the hotel look rather foreboding though....